Numbers 36:6-13

6 and this law is announced of the Lord on the daughters of Zelophehad; be they wedded to which men they will, (but) only to the men of their lineage; (and so this is the Lord's command for Zelophehad's daughters; let them be wedded to whichever men they want, as long as they be men of their own tribe;)
7 lest the possession of the sons of Joseph be meddled from lineage into lineage. For all men shall wed wives of their lineage and kindred; (lest the possession of the Israelites be mixed, or mingled, from tribe to tribe. For all men shall only wed wives of their own tribe and kindred;)
8 and each daughter, that shall have the heritage (who shall have an inheritance), shall be (a) wife to one man of the kindred of her father,
9 and [the] lineages be not meddled to themselves, but dwell so, as those be parted of the Lord. (and so the tribes shall not be mixed, or mingled, among themselves, but shall remain as they were separated by the Lord./and so the inheritance, or the possession, shall not pass from one tribe to another, but each tribe shall keep its own inheritance unto itself.)
10 And the daughters of Zelophehad did, as it was commanded to them.
11 And Mahlah, and Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, were wedded to the sons of their father's brother(s),
12 of the family of Manasseh, that was the son of Joseph; and (so) the possession that was given to them, dwelled in the lineage (stayed in the tribe), and in the family, of their father.
13 These be the commandments and dooms, which the Lord commanded, by the hand of Moses, to the sons of Israel, in the field places of Moab, above (the) Jordan, against Jericho. (These be the commandments and the laws, which the Lord commanded, through Moses, to the Israelites, on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.)

Numbers 36:6-13 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.