God tells the men: “Those women are right!”

The Daughters of Zelophehad forced a change in the inheritance laws

Numbers 27:1-11

Five sisters huddled at the entrance to the holiest place of the Israelite’s massive camp. The Tent of Meeting was where God literally interacted with Moses and Eleazar, the high priest. The structure was not merely cloth haphazardly thrown over a wooden frame but intentional and well designed to encompass God’s glorious presence.

Being a patriarchal society, men typically clogged the entrance. But on this day, the daughters of Zelophehad overcame their sense of modesty, ignored the risks and dangers of breaking traditions, and approached the entrance to the tabernacle to face Moses and Eleazar, joined by tribal leaders and other key Israelites.

The women wanted their deceased father’s land. However, tradition dictated that land, and all other possessions were owned and controlled by the men. If a father died, then the sons would inherit; if there were no sons, then the brothers of the father would inherit. The laws were patrilineal. Women inherited nothing but would become part of their husbands’ families.

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzan were wise women, smart enough to know that in facing the ruler of this huge Jewish nation, their argument had to be indisputable, airtight. So, the sisters focused their plea on honoring their father and restoring his name. Women’s rights were not mentioned.

“Our father died while we were traveling through the desert,” the women explained courageously in Numbers 27:3, ERV. “He died a natural death. …But our father had no sons.”

The five sisters were making their request at a crucial moment. The Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness 40 years after Moses orchestrated their exodus from slavery in Egypt. Aaron, Moses’ brother and spokesman, had died and his place was taken by his son, Eleazar. Everyone was preparing for a second attempt to enter the Promise Land, a gigantic swathe of territory that God had told Moses to divide among the 12 tribes.

Zelophehad was the fourth generation descending from Manasseh, Joseph’s elder son. Hebrew documents suggest that Zelophehad died the second year after the Exodus in one of two ways, both from noble causes and neither of which negated his rightful share in the Holy Land.

The first time the Israelites were at the border of the Promise Land, the people voted against Caleb and Joshua, two of the 12 spies Moses had sent to determine whether the Jews could successfully take the land. The two wanted to take the land, but the majority of the spies ignored God’s assurance of success and urged a retreat. That debacle is known as “the sin of the spies,” and God decreed that the Jews would wander in the desert for 40 years until that generation had died out.

Zelophehad may have been killed when he joined the group of Jews who understood the grievous consequences of their mistake and tried to rectify it by invading the area through the mountains. The Amalekites and Canaanites drove the Jews back and slaughtered the band.

Or, Zelophehad may have been executed for violating Shabbat, Judaism’s Day of rest on the seventh day of the week. The Hebrew story goes that Zelophehad had overheard some Israelites saying that their sentence to wander in the wilderness meant that they were no longer required to observe the commandments. To prove them wrong, he took on the chore of gathering wood to deliberately violate Shabbat at the cost of his own life.

However Zelophehad died, “He was not one of the men who joined Korah’s group,” the daughters told Moses and others in Numbers 27:3, ERV, to focus on the bad he didn’t do and emphasize the honorability of their dad.

Korah led a rebellion of 250 community leaders against Moses during the wilderness days of Exodus, according to Numbers 16. God judged Korah and his leaders, and they all died but the sons of Korah remained, according to Numbers 26: 9-11.

Without sons, “this means that our father’s name will not continue,” they stressed in their complaint made 38 years after his death. “It is not fair that our father’s name will not continue. His name will end because he had no sons. So, we ask you to give us some of the land that our father’s brothers will get.”

Whatever Zelophehad’s sin, the daughters argued persuasively that it was not severe enough to banish him from Jewish history.

“So, Moses asked the Lord what he should do,” according to Numbers 27:5, publicly showing that even as a great prophet and Torah teacher of all time, he could be influenced by his own subjectivity. He was always guided by God.

God promptly responded: “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. They should share the land with their father’s brothers. So, give them the land that you would have given to their father.”

To be clear about the change in Israel’s inheritance laws, God commanded Moses in Numbers 27:8-11:

“So, tell the Israelites, ‘If a man has no son, when he dies everything, he owns will be given to his daughter. If he has no daughter, everything he owns will be given to his brothers. If he has no brothers, everything he owns will be given to his father’s brothers. If his father had no brothers, everything he owns will be given to the closest relative in his family. This will be a law among the Israelites. The Lord has given this command to Moses.’”

SOURCES:

DeYoung, Kevin. Unsung Heroes. ChristCovenant.org.

Engelberg, Abba. Lessons from the Story of Zelophehad’s Daughters. The Blogs. The Times of Israel. April 22, 2020.

Fulp-Eickstaedt, Aaron. Daughters of Zelophehad at the Door of the Tent, sermon. Immanuel Presbyterian Church, McLean, VA. Aug. 27, 2017.

Keefer, Robert. The Daughters of Zelophehad, sermon. Pentecost XXI (O.T.29). Oct. 18, 2020.

Meyers, Carol, General Editor. Women in Scripture. New York: 2000.

Mindel, Nissan. The Daughters of Tzelophchad. Kehot Publication Society. Chabad.org.

Norman, Kyle. What is the Tent of Meeting in the Bible? Crosswalk.com. Jan. 24, 2022.

Shiu, Lydia. The Daughters of Zelophehad. Reservoir Church, Cambridge, MA., program 180422. April 2018.

Silberberg, Naftali. The Daughters of Zelophehad. Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, N.Y.