A Law of Inheritance

1 Then the [five] daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the (a)tribes of Manasseh [who was] the son of Joseph, approached [with a request]. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but he died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons.(A) 4 Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession (land) among our father’s brothers.” 5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord.
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The request of the daughters of Zelophehad is justified. You shall certainly give them a possession as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer their father’s inheritance to them.

Footnotes:

a. Numbers 27:1: Lit families.

Cross references: