Christianity

Numbers 36Marriage Within the Tribe

Summary

Numbers 36 closes the book with a sequel to the case of Zelophehad's daughters. Leaders of their clan in Gilead worry that if the daughters marry outside the tribe of Manasseh, their land will pass to another tribe at the Jubilee. Moses rules that the daughters may marry whom they choose, but only within their father's tribe, so that each tribe keeps its inheritance. The five sisters marry their cousins, and the book ends on the plains of Moab.

Key verse

“This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.”

Numbers 36:6

Themes

Inheritance
Tribal Continuity
Fairness
Community Concerns

And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:

And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.

And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

And when the jubile of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.

And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.

This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.

So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers.

Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:

For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons:

And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
Numbers 27: The Original Petition
Numbers 27 records the daughters' first request and God's ruling that they should inherit, which Numbers 36 refines.
Christianity
Ruth 4: Redeeming the Inheritance
Ruth 4 shows Boaz redeeming land and marrying Ruth to keep a dead man's name on his inheritance, reflecting similar concern for family property.

Questions about Numbers 36

Whom did the daughters of Zelophehad marry?

Numbers 36:11 says they married their father's brothers' sons, so the land stayed in the tribe of Manasseh.

Why does Numbers end with an inheritance case?

The final chapter looks ahead to settled life in the land. Many readers see it as fitting that a book about the wilderness closes with families preparing to inherit.