Numbers 27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 27
Zelophehad’s Daughters. 1 The daughters of Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, came forward. (Zelophehad belonged to the clans of Manasseh, son of Joseph.) The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.(A) 2 Standing before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the princes, and the whole community at the entrance of the tent of meeting, they said: 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. Although he did not join the faction of those who conspired against the Lord,[a] Korah’s faction, he died for his own sin without leaving any sons. 4 But why should our father’s name be cut off from his clan merely because he had no son? Give us land among our father’s kindred.”
Laws Concerning Heiresses.[b] 5 So Moses laid their case before the Lord, 6 and the Lord said to him: 7 The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just; you shall give them hereditary land among their father’s kindred and transfer their father’s heritage to them. 8 Tell the Israelites: If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his heritage to his daughter; 9 if he has no daughter, you shall give his heritage to his brothers; 10 if he has no brothers, you shall give his heritage to his father’s brothers; 11 if his father had no brothers, you shall give his heritage to his nearest relative in his clan, who shall then take possession of it.
This will be the statutory procedure for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.(B)
Joshua to Succeed Moses. 12 The Lord said to Moses: Go up into this mountain of the Abarim range[c] and view the land that I have given to the Israelites.(C) 13 When you have viewed it, you will be gathered to your people, as was Aaron your brother.(D) 14 For in the rebellion of the community in the wilderness of Zin you both rebelled against my order to acknowledge my holiness before them by means of the water.(E) (These were the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
15 Then Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humanity,[d] set over the community someone 17 who will be their leader in battle and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” 18 And the Lord replied to Moses: Take Joshua, son of Nun,(F) a man of spirit,[e] and lay your hand upon him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. 20 Invest him with some of your own power, that the whole Israelite community may obey him. 21 He shall present himself to Eleazar the priest, who will seek for him the decision of the Urim[f] in the Lord’s presence; and as it directs, Joshua, all the Israelites with him, and the whole community will go out for battle; and as it directs, they will come in.
22 Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. Taking Joshua and having him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, 23 he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord had directed through Moses.
Footnotes
- 27:3 He did not join…against the Lord: had he done so, he and his heirs could have been deprived of a portion in the promised land.
- 27:5–11 The purpose of this law, as also that of the related laws in 36:2–10 (marriage within the same tribe), Dt 25:5–10 (levirate marriage), and Lv 25:10 (return of property in the jubilee year), was to keep the landed property within the proper domain of each tribe.
- 27:12 The Abarim range: the mountains on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. The peak of this chain is Mount Nebo where Moses views the promised land before he dies (Dt 32:49).
- 27:16 The God of the spirits of all humanity: the sense is that God knows the character and abilities of all people and therefore knows best whom to appoint (cf. Jgs 6:34; 11:29; 1 Sm 16:13); see the same phrase in Nm 16:22, where “spirit” evidently means the life principle.
- 27:18 A man of spirit: lit., “a man in whom there is spirit,” that is, probably one who is endowed with a courageous spirit (Jos 2:11); compare Gn 41:38; Dt 34:9.
- 27:21 The Urim: certain sacred objects which Israelite priests employed to discern the divine will, probably by obtaining a positive or negative answer to a given question. The full expression was “the Urim and Thummim”; cf. Ex 28:30; Lv 8:8; Dt 33:8; Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65. Joshua ordinarily did not receive direct revelations from God as Moses had received them.
Numbers 27
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A Case of Daughters’ Inheritance
27 The daughters of Zelophehad approached; Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh from the clans of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the entire community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among Korah’s followers, who gathered together against the Lord.(A) Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan? Since he had no son, give us property among our father’s brothers.”
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord, 6 and the Lord answered him, 7 “What Zelophehad’s daughters say is correct. You are to give them hereditary property among their father’s brothers and transfer their father’s inheritance to them.(B) 8 Tell the Israelites: When a man dies without having a son, transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative of his clan, and he will take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Joshua Commissioned to Succeed Moses
12 Then the Lord said to Moses,(C) “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range[a] and see the land that I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you will also be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was.(D) 14 When the community quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight at the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah[b] of Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.(E)
15 So Moses appealed to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh,(F) appoint a man over the community 17 who will go out before them and come back in before them,(G) and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s community won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”(H)
18 The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.(I) 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and commission(J) him in their sight. 20 Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him. 21 He will stand before Eleazar who will consult the Lord for him with the decision of the Urim.(K) He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”
22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire community, 23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
Footnotes
- Numbers 27:12 = Mount Nebo; Nm 33:47-48; Dt 32:49; Jr 22:20
- Numbers 27:14 = quarreling
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