Numbers 36:3-13

3 Now if they be married to any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong; and it shall be taken from the lot of our inheritance.
4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall come, then shall their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong; and their inheritance shall be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Jehovah, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.
6 This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry whom they please; only they shall marry one of the tribe of their father,
7 that no inheritance of the children of Israel pass from tribe to tribe; for every one of the children of Israel shall keep to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
8 And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance among the tribes of the children of Israel, shall be married to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every one the inheritance of his fathers,
9 and the inheritance shall not pass from one tribe to another tribe; for each of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep to his inheritance.
10 Even as Jehovah had commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad;
11 and Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their uncles' sons.
12 To those that were of the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph were they married; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Jehovah commanded through Moses to the children of Israel, in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan of Jericho.

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.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Lit. 'mouth.'
  • [b]. Lit. 'him who is good in their eyes,' as elsewhere.
  • [c]. Lit. 'was.'
  • [d]. Or 'by the hand of,' as elsewhere.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.