Numbers 36: The daughters of Zelophehad marry within their tribe
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What happens?
The leaders of the clan of Gilead, of the tribe of Manasseh, come to Moses with a worry: if the daughters of Zelophehad marry men of other tribes, their land will pass to those tribes and be lost to Manasseh for good. At Yahweh's word Moses says they are right: the daughters may marry whom they like, but only within their father's tribe, so that no land moves from tribe to tribe. The five daughters marry their cousins, and the book ends with the commands Yahweh gave on the plains of Moab.
Who is speaking?
The clan leaders speak in verses 2 to 4, and Moses answers in verses 5 to 9 with what Yahweh commands. No verse in this chapter has God's own words in gold: the leaders' words are their own, and in verses 6 to 9 Moses passes on what Yahweh commands, so those are Moses' words. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel.
In plain English: The heads of the families of the clan of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the sons of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the families of the Israelites.
Good to know: In to the five daughters of Zelophehad asked for their father's land, because he had no sons, and Yahweh said, "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right" (). Here the men of their clan raise the next question, and Moses' answer in uses the same words: they "speak what is right".
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2They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
In plain English: They said, "Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land to the Israelites as their inheritance by lot. And my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
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3If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
In plain English: If they marry men from any of the other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe they marry into. So it will be taken away from the inheritance we received by lot.
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4When the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
In plain English: When the Israelites' jubilee comes, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe they marry into, and taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."
Good to know: The jubilee is the fiftieth year, when each person goes back to his own property ( and ). The leaders say that even at the jubilee the daughters' land would stay with the tribe they married into.
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5Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right.
In plain English: At Yahweh's word, Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right in what it says.
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6This is the thing which Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father.
In plain English: This is what Yahweh commands about the daughters of Zelophehad: 'They may marry whoever they think best, but only within a clan of their father's tribe.
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7So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
In plain English: No inheritance of the Israelites is to pass from one tribe to another. Every Israelite is to keep hold of the inheritance of his fathers' tribe.
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8Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers.
In plain English: Every daughter who inherits land in any tribe of Israel is to marry someone from a clan of her father's tribe, so that every Israelite keeps the inheritance of his fathers.
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9So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’”
In plain English: No inheritance is to pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe of Israel is to keep hold of its own inheritance.'"
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10The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses:
In plain English: The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
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11for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons.
In plain English: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married their cousins, the sons of their uncles (this Bible: their father's brothers' sons).
Good to know: Here the names come in a different order from and , which give Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. The text does not say why. tells that they received their land.
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12They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
In plain English: They married into the clans of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance stayed in the tribe of their father's clan.
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13These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
In plain English: These are the commands and the rules that Yahweh gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Good to know: This is the last verse of Numbers. The book that follows, Deuteronomy, also has Moses speaking to Israel "beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab" ().
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