Numbers 36:1-4

Women and Land Inheritance

36:1 Then the heads of the family groups of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. 36:2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 36:3 Now if they should be married to one of the men from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. As a result, it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 36:4 And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”


tn The expression is “the heads of the fathers by the family of the Gileadites.”

tn The Greek and the Syriac add “and before Eleazar the priest.”

tn Heb “heads of the fathers.”

tn The infinitive construct “to give” serves here as the complement or object of the verb, answering what the Lord had commanded Moses.

tn “Men” is understood; it says “to one from the sons of the tribes of the Israelites for a wife,” or if he has her for a wife.

tn Heb “which they will be to them,” meaning, to those who have them, i.e., the marriages.

tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) is most often translated “to be,” but it can also mean “to happen, to take place, to come to pass,” etc.

tn Heb “the tribe of our fathers.”