Numbers 36

Marriage of Female Heirs

36The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the ^qpeople of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. ²They said, ^r“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and ^smy lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴And when ^tthe jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph ^uis right. ⁶This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, ^vonly they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. ⁷The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel ^wshall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸And ^xevery daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’ ”

¹⁰The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, ^11yfor Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. ¹²They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

¹³These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel ^zin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.