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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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JPS Old Testament

Numbers 36:6

This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying: Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Heir;   Inheritance;   Land;   Milcah;   Property;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Marriage;   Tribes of Israel, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Inheritance;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Heir;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Economic Life;   Mahlah;   Zelophehad;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Genealogy of Jesus Christ;   Inheritance;   Marriage;   Zelophehad;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Heir Heritage Inheritance;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Zelophehad ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Heir;   Sea;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Other Laws;   On to Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Abiezer;   Best;   Daughter;   Heir;   Hoglah;   Inheritance;   Numbers, Book of;   Relationships, Family;   Woman;   Zelophehad;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Inheritance;   Zelophehad;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
This is the thing which the LORD does command concerning the daughters of Tzelohchad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.
King James Version
This is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
Lexham English Bible
This is the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whomever they like; only they must marry from within the clan of the tribe of their father.
English Standard Version
This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father.
New Century Version
This is the Lord 's command to Zelophehad's daughters: You may marry anyone you wish, as long as the person is from your own tribe.
New English Translation
This is what the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad's daughters: ‘Let them marry whomever they think best, only they must marry within the family of their father's tribe.
Amplified Bible
"This is what the LORD commands regarding the daughters of Zelophehad: 'Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.'
New American Standard Bible
"This is what the LORD has commanded regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry whomever they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.'
Geneva Bible (1587)
This is the thing that the Lorde hath commaunded, concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, They shall be wiues, to whome they thinke best, onely to the familie of the tribe of their father shall they marry:
Legacy Standard Bible
This is what Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whoever is good in their sight; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.'
Contemporary English Version
I will allow Zelophehad's daughters to marry anyone, as long as those men belong to one of the clans of the Manasseh tribe.
Complete Jewish Bible
Here is what Adonai has ordered concerning the daughters of Tz'lof'chad: ‘Let them be married to whomever they think best, but they must marry only into a family from their father's tribe.
Darby Translation
This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry whom they please; only they shall marry one of the tribe of their father,
Easy-to-Read Version
This is the Lord 's command to Zelophehad's daughters: If you want to marry someone, you must marry someone from your own tribe.
George Lamsa Translation
This is the thing which the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying. Let them marry whom they think best; but only within the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry,
Good News Translation
and so the Lord says that the daughters of Zelophehad are free to marry anyone they wish but only within their own tribe.
Christian Standard Bible®
This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe.
Literal Translation
This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be wives to those good in their eyes, only let them be for wives to the family of the tribe of their father,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
This is it that ye LORDE commaundeth the doughters of Zelaphead, and sayeth: Let them mary as they like best, onely that they mary in ye kynred of the trybe of their father,
American Standard Version
This is the thing which Jehovah doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.
Bible in Basic English
This is the order of the Lord about the daughters of Zelophehad: The Lord says, Let them take as their husbands whoever is most pleasing to them, but only among the family of their father's tribe.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
This therefore doth the Lorde commaunde the daughters of Zelaphead, saying: Let them be wyues, to whom they them selues thinke best: only to the familie of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
King James Version (1611)
This is the thing which the Lord doeth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they thinke best: onely to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
This is the thing which the Lord has appointed the daughters of Salpaad, saying, Let them marry where they please, only let them marry men of their father’s tribe.
English Revised Version
This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
Berean Standard Bible
This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and this lawe is denounsid of the Lord on the douytris of Salphaat; be thei weddid to whiche men thei wolen, oneli to the men of her lynage;
Young's Literal Translation
this [is] the thing which Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, To those good in their eyes let them be for wives; only, to a family of the tribe of their fathers let them be for wives;
Update Bible Version
This is the thing which Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; they shall be married only into the family of the tribe of their father.
Webster's Bible Translation
This [is] the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.
World English Bible
This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.
New King James Version
This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, "Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father's tribe.'
New Living Translation
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.
New Life Bible
This is what the Lord has said about the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best. Only they must marry within the family group of their father.'
New Revised Standard
This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only it must be into a clan of their father's tribe that they are married,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
This, is the thing which Yahweh hath commanded, as to the daughters of Zelophehad saying: Unto whomsoever it may be good in their eyes, let them become wives, - save only unto the family of the tribe of their father, let them become wives.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And this is the law promulgated by the Lord touching the daughters of Salphaad: Let them marry to whom they will, only so that it be to men of their own tribe.
Revised Standard Version
This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zeloph'ehad, 'Let them marry whom they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, 'Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.'

Contextual Overview

5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying: 'The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaketh right. 6 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying: Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. 7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave every one to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave each one to its own inheritance.' 10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad. 11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's brothers' sons. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the ordinances, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

marry: Heb. be wives

only to the family: Numbers 36:12, Genesis 24:3, Genesis 24:57, Genesis 24:58, 2 Corinthians 6:14

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:16 - make Leviticus 24:12 - that the mind of the Lord might be showed them 1 Chronicles 23:22 - took them

Cross-References

Genesis 12:5
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Genesis 13:6
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Genesis 13:11
So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'
Genesis 25:23
And the LORD said unto her: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Genesis 28:4
and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, which God gave unto Abraham.'
Genesis 32:3
And Jacob said when he saw them: 'This is God's camp.' And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Ezekiel 27:13
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

This is the thing which the Lord doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad,.... Concerning this affair relative to them; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,

"not for the generations that rise up after the division of the land, but for the daughters of Zelophehad;''

as if this order only respected them, or what might happen before the land was divided, but not after; and this is the general opinion of the Jewish writers; but it seems, that as the following law not only concerns them, but all heiresses, so all such after as well as before the division of the land, since the reason of it holds good after as before:

saying, let them marry to whom they think best; whom they like best, who are most acceptable to them; as it was reasonable they should, and not have such forced upon them, whose persons were disagreeable to them:

only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry; they were to marry not only such as were of the tribe of Manasseh, but of their father's family in that tribe; they could only marry into the family of the Hepherites; see Numbers 26:32.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The daughters of Zelophehad had obtained an ordinance Numbers 28:6-11 which permitted the daughters of an Israelite dying without male issue to inherit their father’s property. The chiefs of the Machirites, of whom Zelophehad had been one, now obtain a supplemental enactment, directing that heiresses should marry within their own tribe.

Numbers 36:4

Be taken away - i. e. be permanently taken away. The jubilee year, by not restoring the estate to the tribe to which it originally belonged, would in effect confirm the alienation.

Numbers 36:11

Unto their father’s brothers’ sons - Or more generally, “unto the sons of their kinsmen.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 36:6. Let them marry to whom they think best — Here was latitude sufficient, and yet a salutary and reasonable restraint, which prevented a vexatious mixture of property and possession.


 
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