Numbers 27

Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he belonged to the family groups of Manasseh son of Joseph. His daughters were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

1Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

NoteThe list of fathers is not decoration: land in Israel was held permanently by family lines within a tribe, so a claim to land had to be traced through a named ancestry. Naming Hepher, Gilead, Machir and Manasseh identifies exactly which tribe's territory and which clan's share these women are asking for. The Hebrew word rendered "family group" (mishpachah) means a clan, a group of related households between the size of a family and a tribe.

2They stood at the entrance of the tent where God met with the people, in front of Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community, and they said:

2And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

NoteEleazar was Aaron's son, who had taken over as chief priest after Aaron's death. The "leaders" are the heads of tribes and clans. The entrance of the tent was where legal cases and disputes were formally heard, so the daughters are bringing a lawsuit in the recognized public court, not making a private request.

3"Our father died in the desert. He was not part of the group that banded together against the LORD with Korah. He died because of his own sin, and he had no sons.

3Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.

NoteKorah led a revolt against Moses' and Aaron's authority in which the rebels and their households were destroyed (told earlier, in Numbers 16). The daughters mention it because the property of men executed for that rebellion would have been forfeit; they are establishing that their father's line was not disqualified that way. "He died because of his own sin" is deliberately unspecific in the Hebrew and has been understood two ways: either he simply died an ordinary death like the rest of that generation, who were condemned to die in the desert, or he died for some fault of his own that carried no penalty against his heirs.

4Why should our father's name disappear from his family just because he had no son? Give us land of our own among our father's brothers."

4Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.

NoteAn Israelite man's "name" continuing meant his household keeping its own permanently held plot of land and being counted as a unit within the clan. If the land passed to relatives it was absorbed into their holdings and the dead man's household ceased to exist as a separate line. The daughters are not asking for cash or goods but for a share of territory.

5So Moses brought their case to the LORD.

5And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.

6And the LORD said to Moses:

6And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

7"What the daughters of Zelophehad say is right. You must certainly give them land of their own as an inheritance among their father's brothers. Transfer their father's inheritance to them.

7The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.

Note"Inheritance" throughout this chapter means a family's allotted piece of land, held permanently and not meant to be sold off for good. Transferring it to the daughters is what keeps their father's household on the map.

8And tell the Israelites this: If a man dies and has no son, transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

8And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.

9If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.

9And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.

10If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers.

10And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.

11And if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and that man will take it as his own. This is to be a binding legal rule for the Israelites, just as the LORD commanded Moses."

11And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Note"A binding legal rule" translates a phrase meaning a fixed procedural statute, a ruling on this one case that from now on settles every case like it. The chapter is presenting itself as the origin of a standing law of inheritance.

12Then the LORD said to Moses, "Climb this mountain in the Abarim range and look at the land I have given to the Israelites.

12And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

NoteThe Abarim are a range of hills east of the Dead Sea, in what is now Jordan, facing the land west of the Jordan River. Their high points, including Mount Nebo, look across at the territory Israel was about to enter, so Moses is being told to view from a distance the land he will not cross into.

13After you have seen it, you too will die and join your relatives who died before you, just as your brother Aaron did.

13And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.

Note"Gathered to your people" is the standard Hebrew phrase for dying and being laid with one's ancestors; it is about joining the family dead, not about a journey to a particular afterlife. Aaron had died on Mount Hor shortly before this, in the same manner: shown his end in advance, on a mountain, outside the land.

14This is because both of you disobeyed my command in the Desert of Zin. When the community argued with me, you failed to honor me as holy in front of them at the water. That was the water of Meribah at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin."

14For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

NoteThis refers back to the incident at Kadesh where the people quarreled over lack of water and Moses struck a rock to bring water out (Numbers 20). "Meribah" is a Hebrew word meaning quarreling or lawsuit, so the place-name itself records the argument. The exact nature of Moses' and Aaron's failure is left unstated in the Hebrew and has been argued over ever since.

15Then Moses said to the LORD,

15And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying,

16"May the LORD, the God who gives life and breath to every living person, appoint a man to lead this community.

16Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

Note"The God of the spirits of all flesh" is a rare Hebrew title. The word translated "spirit" also means breath and wind; "all flesh" means every living creature. The phrase presents God as the one who knows and holds the inner life of every person, which is the point of the request, since Moses is asking God to pick the right individual.

17Let him go out ahead of them and come back in ahead of them, leading them out and bringing them home again, so that the LORD's people will not be like sheep with no shepherd."

17Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

Note"Go out and come in" is a set Hebrew expression for leading an army out on campaign and bringing it home again; it describes a military commander's job, not a walking route. "Shepherd" was the ordinary ancient title for a king or ruler across the whole region, so "sheep with no shepherd" means a people with no one in command, not a comment on their character.

18The LORD answered Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and place your hand on him.

18And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

NoteThe Hebrew says only "a man in whom is spirit," which can mean the divine spirit that equips a leader or simply that Joshua has the capacity and drive for the job; the text does not settle which. Placing hands on someone was the recognized gesture for formally designating a person for an office or a purpose, in front of witnesses who could later confirm it happened.

19Have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and give him his orders where they can all see it.

19And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

Note"Give him his orders" translates a formal term for installing someone in office with a public statement of duties, a commissioning ceremony, done in the open so that no one can later dispute that it took place.

20Give him some of your own authority, so that the whole community of Israel will obey him.

20And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

NoteThe Hebrew word is "majesty" or "dignity", the visible standing that made people obey. Note that Joshua receives *some* of it, not all: he is being given real authority, but the text stops short of making him Moses' equal.

21He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will ask the LORD for direction for him by using the Urim. At Eleazar's word, Joshua and all the Israelites with him, the whole community, will go out and come back in."

21And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

NoteThe Urim (usually paired with the Thummim) were objects kept in the chief priest's chest-piece and used to put questions to God and get an answer, apparently of a yes-or-no or either-or kind; how they worked is never described anywhere in the Bible. The point here is a change in procedure: Moses had spoken with God directly, but Joshua will have to go through a priest and this device, so military and national decisions now pass through the priesthood.

22Moses did what the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community.

22And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:

23He placed his hands on him and gave him his orders, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

23And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.