Num. 36 celv

Marriage of Female Heirs

THE

family leaders of the clan of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the sons of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders of the Israelite families. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. My lord was also commanded by the Lord to give our brother Zelophehad’s inheritance to his daughters. 3 But if they marry men from other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken away from our father’s inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. So part of our allotted inheritance will be taken away. 4 When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe they marry into, and their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

5 Then Moses commanded the Israelites according to the word of the Lord: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only they must marry within the tribal clan of their father. 7 No inheritance of the Israelites is to be transferred from tribe to tribe, for each of the Israelites is to retain the tribal inheritance of his forefathers. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from her father’s tribal clan, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, because each of the Israelite tribes is to retain its own inheritance’.”

10 So the daughters of Zelophedad did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married some of the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

13 These are the commands and ordinances the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

The Israelites; also in verses 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 13. [Hebrew: ben yisrael; pronunciation: bane yis-raw-ale'; definition: literally, ‘the sons of Israel’.]

In most modern English translations of the Holy Bible, the term ‘the Israelites’ is the translation of the Hebrew phrase ben yisrael; definition: literally, ‘the sons of Israel’, the term that is used throughout the Old Testament to define the nation of ancient Israel.

Throughout the Old Testament period, the Hebrew peoples typically assigned their families, clans, and tribes, as well as their national existence, by referring almost exclusively to the male gender, in keeping with the widespread cultural practice across the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean region for thousands of years, dating back to antiquity.

For this reason the phrase ‘the sons of Israel’ was used throughout the Old Testament to define the nation of ancient Israel, and inclusive in the use of this phrase were the men and women, boys and girls, and young and old of the nation.

The name Israel, literally means ‘God strives’, and it was the same name that was originally given to the foundational patriarch Jacob by God Himself. This took place at the end of an incident when God directly physically challenged Jacob in a wrestling contest in the dark of night. Jacob, not knowing who his mysterious and unrecognized assailant was, defended himself in a prolonged struggle that lasted through till daybreak.

God loved His servant Jacob, and that night He acknowledged the intense significance that His servant Jacob would have to the work of God on earth in a special and unique way. For the sake of Jacob, and for the sake of all mankind who would come on the earth afterward, God said to Jacob, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28 celv).

Remarkably, to this day the personal name of the original ancient Hebrew patriarch Israel still remains in common widespread use, right across the modern world.

The Holy Bible

Current English Language Version

The Book of Numbers

Numbers Chapter 36

Marriage of Female Heirs

Old Testament Books

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Old Testament Books

New Testament Books