Numbers 27, 36
Dear RTB’ers,
The daughters of Zelophehad, an interesting twist to inheritance laws and the division of the Promised Land. It is particularly interesting in that:
- The daughters came to Moses and presented their petition
- Moses took the issue before the Lord and the Lord responded with inheritance caveats to go as far as “the nearest kinsman of his clan”
- A further issue arose wherein “The heads of the fathers’ houses of … Manasseh” were concerned about the daughters of Zelophehad marrying outside the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Manasseh losing that land, and
- Moses again brought the issue before the Lord and the Lord replied that any daughters in this situation must marry within their tribe.
We already read last year in Joshua 17:3-6 that this issue was resolved as the Lord had commanded – the daughters of Zelophehad were given their inheritance, a portion of land along with other members of the tribe of Manasseh.
Blessings!
See also: February 17 (2023) / Numbers 27-29