Zelophehad's Daughters Receive
1 This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 2 So this was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, for the children of Helek, for the children of Asriel, for the children of Shechem, for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida. These were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families. 3 But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They came to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the princes, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Ten parts fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; 6 because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh. 7 The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem. The border went along to the right hand, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. 9 The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and ended at the sea. 10 Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east. 11 Manasseh had three heights in Issachar, in Asher Beth Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns. 12 Yet the children of Manasseh couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 13 When the children of Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.
Five sisters stand before the same tribunal that heard Caleb, cite the same kind of old word, and the law made for them is honored to the letter.
This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
Manasseh's western portion is settled among six clans Joshua 17:2 — Machir's warriors having already taken Gilead and Bashan across the river Joshua 13:31 — and then the registry pauses for the chapter's real event: five women approaching the land tribunal.
But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
Scripture names them — again. Five sisters, named in full four times across two books Numbers 26:33 Numbers 27:1 Numbers 36:11, because their case made law. In the wilderness they had stood before Moses with an argument from covenant logic: their father died without sons, and why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family? Numbers 27:4. God's own ruling — the daughters of Zelophehad speak right Numbers 27:7 — wrote female inheritance into Israel's statutes wherever sons were lacking Numbers 27:8–11, amended once to keep tribal land intact through their marriages Numbers 36:6–9.
They came to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the princes, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.
Now the promise crosses the Jordan and gets cashed. The scene is Caleb's exactly Joshua 14:6: a claimant before the same tribunal, citing a word given through Moses decades earlier, receiving it in full — the book pairing an old soldier and five orphaned sisters as its two portraits of inheritance claimed by faith. The daughters' share is real acreage: ten parts fell to Manasseh Joshua 17:5 — six clans plus the sisters' portions — because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons Joshua 17:6. A generation after the case was argued, the ruling holds under a new administration, which is the whole registry's lesson in one family: what God says through Moses does not lapse when Moses dies Joshua 13:15.
12 Yet the children of Manasseh couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 13 When the children of Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.
And Manasseh's entry closes on the ledger's darkening refrain — the third tribe running, and the fullest form of it. The prize towns of the northern valleys stay Canaanite — Beth Shean, Taanach, Megiddo Joshua 17:11, names the next book will hear again when Deborah's war is fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo Judges 5:19. Couldn't hardens into didn't as strength grows; the tribute option wins again. Five sisters claimed everything an old promise held. Their tribe, holding a newer and larger one, settled for rent.
settled What this mark means