Numbers
Numbers takes its English name from the two censuses of Israel recorded in the book. Its Hebrew name, Bamidbar (בְּמִדְבַּר), means “In the wilderness,” from the book’s opening words. Numbers follows Israel’s journey from Mount Sinai toward the Promised Land, recording both God’s faithful guidance and the people’s repeated struggles with fear, unbelief, and disobedience. It reveals the Lord as patient, just, and faithful—the God who continues to lead His people, keeps His covenant promises, and remains with them even through the wilderness.
Numbers 36
Zelophehad’s Daughters Marry
(Numbers 27:1–11)
1 Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,
2 saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, He also commanded him to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
3 But if they marry any of the men from the other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the portion of our fathers and added to the tribe into which they marry. So our allotted inheritance would be taken away.
4 And when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to the tribe into which they marry and taken away from the tribe of our fathers.”
5 So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.
6 This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.
7 No inheritance in Israel may be transferred from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.
9 No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.”
10 So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side.
12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) printed 2016, 2020, 2022, 2025 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, unfoldingWord, Bible Aquifer, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain. Free downloads and unlimited usage available. See also the Berean Literal Bible and Berean Interlinear Bible.Berean Standard Bible (BSB) • Audio narration by Barry Hays • Dedicated to the public domain (CC0)
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