¹⁵ Makir found wives for^[a] Huppim and Shuppim. Makir had a sister named Maacah. One of his descendants was Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

Women Who Inherit Property

36 Then the heads of the clans of Gilead—descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition. ² They said, “Sir, the Lord instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the Lord to give the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ But if they marry men from another tribe, their grants of land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal land will be reduced. ⁴ Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their portion of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever to our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the Lord: “The claim of the men of the tribe of Joseph is legitimate. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: Let them marry anyone they like, as long as it is within their own ancestral tribe. ⁷ None of the territorial land may pass from tribe to tribe, for all the land given to each tribe must remain within the tribe to which it was first allotted. ⁸ The daughters throughout the tribes of Israel who are in line to inherit property must marry within their tribe, so that all the Israelites will keep their ancestral property. ⁹ No grant of land may pass from one tribe to another; each tribe of Israel must keep its allotted portion of land.”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married into the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. Thus, their inheritance of land remained within their ancestral tribe.

The Daughters of Zelophehad

27 One day a petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Their father, Zelophehad, was a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. ² These women stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[a] 3} “Our father died in the wilderness,” they said. “He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the Lord; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.”

⁵ So Moses brought their case before the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord replied to Moses, ⁷ “The claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is legitimate. You must give them a grant of land along with their father’s relatives. Assign them the property that would have been given to their father.

⁸ “And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. ⁹ And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”