The Laws about Married Women and Land

¹One day the family leaders from the Gilead clan of the Manasseh tribe went to Moses and the other family leaders of Israel

²and said, “Sir, the Lord has said that he will show what land each tribe will receive as their own. And the Lord has commanded you to give the daughters of our relative Zelophehad the land that he would have received.[#Nu 27.7.; #36.2 See the note at 26.55,56.; #36.2 See also 26.28-34; 27.1-11.]

³But if they marry men from other tribes of Israel, the land they receive will become part of that tribe's inheritance and will no longer belong to us.

⁴Even when land is returned to its original owner in the Year of Celebration, we will not get back Zelophehad's land—it will belong to the tribe into which his daughters married.”[#36.4 This was a sacred year for Israel, traditionally called the “Year of Jubilee.” During this year, all property had to go back to its original owner. But here, the property was not sold; it became part of the other tribe's land when the daughter who owned it married into that tribe. So the property could not be returned even during this year.]

⁵So Moses told the people that the Lord had said:

^10-11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah the daughters of Zelophehad obeyed the Lord and married their uncles' sons

¹²and remained part of the Manasseh tribe. So their land stayed in their father's clan.

¹³These are the laws that the Lord gave to Moses and the Israelites while they were camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.