Numbers 36:5-13

5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.

6 This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, `Let them marry whom they think best; only, within the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.'

7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

8 And every daughter who possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

9 Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe, but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance."

10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad;

11 for Mahlal, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their fathers' brothers' sons.

12 And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.

Numbers 36:5-13 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.