Numbers 36

Inheritance Through Marriage

1 The leaders*Literally "The heads" of the families*Or "fathers" of the clans of descendants*Or "sons" of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendants*Or "sons" of Joseph came near and spoke before*Literally "before the face of" Moses and before*Literally "before the face of" the leaders*Literally "the heads" of the families*Hebrew "of the fathers" of the Israelites.*Literally "sons/children of Israel"2 And they said, "Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot as an inheritance to the Israelites,*Literally "sons/children of Israel" and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they become wives to one of the sons from another tribe of the Israelites,*Literally "sons/children of Israel" their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors,*Or "fathers" and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear. 4 When the Jubilee of the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" comes,*Literally "will be" it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will disappear from the tribe of our father."

5 Then Moses commanded the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" by the command of Yahweh, saying, "The tribe of the descendants*Or "sons" of Joseph is right regarding what they are speaking. 6 This is the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry*Literally "Let them be as wives" whomever they like;*Literally "they will be as the good in their eyes" only they must marry*Literally "they must be as wives" from within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 Thus an inheritance of the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the Israelites.*Literally "sons/children of Israel"8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" will marry*Literally "be a wife to" one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" will possess the inheritance of his ancestors.*Or "fathers"9 Therefore an inheritance will not go around from one tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" will each hold to their own inheritance.’ "

10 Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married*Literally "were as wives to" the sons of their uncles. 12 They married*Literally "They were as wives to" those from the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained*Literally "was" among the tribe of the clan of their ancestors.*Or "fathers"

13 These were the commands and the stipulations that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses*Or "through Moses" to the Israelites*Literally "sons/children of Israel" on the desert-plateaus of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho.