Numbers 27:1-11·~1 min

The Daughters of Zelophehad

Zelophehad’s daughters are named and step forward before the whole assembly to argue for their father’s place within his clan. They ask for property so his name will not disappear simply because he had no sons.

N¹ow the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached ²the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole congregation, and said, ³“Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the followers of Korah who gathered together against the LORD. Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons. ⁴Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan because he had no sons? Give us property among our father’s brothers.”

Moses brings the matter before the LORD, and the LORD declares that the daughters speak rightly. Their father’s inheritance is to be transferred to them among his brothers’ family.

⁵So Moses brought their case before the LORD, ⁶and the LORD answered him, ⁷“The daughters of Zelophehad speak correctly. You certainly must give them property as an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer their father’s inheritance to them.

The ruling is widened into an inheritance order for Israel: first daughter, then brothers, then paternal uncles, then the next nearest kinsman. What begins as a case becomes a standing ordinance for the nation.

⁸Furthermore, you shall say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, you are to transfer his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹And if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the next of kin from his clan, that he may take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites, as the LORD has commanded Moses.’”

Section summaryZelophehad’s daughters come before Israel’s leaders and ask that their father’s name and share not vanish because he had no sons. The LORD upholds their claim and establishes a broader inheritance rule for similar cases in Israel.

Role in the chapterThis opening section settles a concrete case while shaping Israel’s life in the land. It turns one family’s plea into a lasting ordinance that orders inheritance within the tribes.