Numbers 36:3-13

3 "But if they marry * one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance.

4 "When the ¹jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."

5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements.

6 "²This is what * the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry * whom they wish *; only they must marry * within the family of the tribe of their father.'

7 "Thus ³no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

8 "⁴Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers.

9 "Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each hold to his own inheritance."

10 Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did:

11 ⁵Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles' sons.

12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father.

13 ⁶These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

Read Chapter Compare

Numbers 36:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 36

This chapter gives an account of an application made by the heads of the tribe of Manasseh, concerning the inheritances of the daughters of Zelophehad, which, should they marry into other tribes, would be removed thither, and so be a loss to theirs, Nu 36:1-4, which case was judged worthy of regard; and to remedy this inconvenience, they were ordered to marry into the family of their father's tribe, and this was to be a law to all heiresses for the future in other tribes, Nu 36:5-9 and accordingly the daughters of Zelophehad married their father's brothers' sons, Nu 36:10-13.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 6

1. Leviticus 25:10
2. Numbers 27:7
3. 1 Kings 21:3
4. 1 Chronicles 23:22
5. Numbers 26:33
6. Leviticus 26:46; Leviticus 27:34; Numbers 22:1

Footnotes 10

[a]. Lit "become wives to," in this ch
[b]. Lit "shall be"
[c]. Lit "mouth"
[d]. Lit "the thing which"
[e]. Lit "to the good one in their eyes"
[f]. Lit "turn about"
[g]. Lit "cleave"
[h]. Lit "turn about"
[i]. Lit "cleave"
[j]. Lit "was"