Thematic Bible: Unmarried woman's rights in


Thematic Bible



Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clan of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these [were] the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders of the entire community [at] the doorway of the tent of assembly, saying, "Our father died in the desert; he was not in the midst of the company of those who banded together against Yahweh in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. read more.
Why should the name of our father disappear from the midst of his clan because he does not have a son? Give us property in the midst of the brothers of our father." So Moses brought their case before Yahweh. And Yahweh said to Moses, saying, "{The statements of the daughters of Zelophehad are right}. You must surely give them [the] property of an inheritance in the midst of their father's brothers, and you must transfer the inheritance of their father to them. And you must speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'If a man dies and has no son, you must transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, you must give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his father's brothers. If his father has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his nearest relative from his own clan, and he will take possession of it. It will be as a decree of stipulation for the {Israelites}, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.'"

{The leaders} of the families of the clans of descendants of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendants of Joseph came near and spoke {before} Moses and {before} {the leaders} of the families of the {Israelites}. And they said, "Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot as an inheritance to the {Israelites}, and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. But if they become wives to one of the sons from [another] tribe of the {Israelites}, their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear. read more.
When the Jubilee of the {Israelites} {comes}, 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." Then Moses commanded the {Israelites} by the command of Yahweh, saying, "The tribe of the descendants of Joseph [is] right [regarding what they are] speaking. This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, '{Let them marry} {whomever they like}; only {they must marry} from within the clan of the tribe of their father. Thus an inheritance of the {Israelites} will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the {Israelites}. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the {Israelites} will {marry} one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the {Israelites} will possess the inheritance of his ancestors. Therefore an inheritance will not go around from [one] tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the {Israelites} will each hold to their [own] inheritance.'" Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, {married} the sons of their uncles.