"Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.”
5 Moses brought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses."
Numbers 27:1-11
There is a sense in which the lesson about the faithfulness of God in the last chapter is continued in this one, for the same kind of contrast is present here as there, the daughters of Zelophehad are assured of their inheritance, while the divine verdict on Moses, 'who spake unadvisedly with his lips' and was excluded from the Promised Land for his sin, was ratified.
First, then, the story of Zelophehad's daughters. Reference is made to them in 26:33, here, and in Joshua 17:3ff. In an account of this nature, what we need to do is to get behind the outward features of the story and discover the principles that underlie it. It is thus that we can gather the spiritual message for ourselves. Here is a situation in which an unprotected, defenceless family of daughters, who seem to have no provision made for them within the known and declared legislation concerning inheritance in the Promised Land, appeal to the justice and faithfulness of God for recognition and redress, and their appeal is heard and honoured. It is very remarkable to find this piece of humanitarian legislation at such an early date, when the rights of minorities, let alone minorities of women, were so little recognised or noticed, and it emphasises once again how 'advanced' the Mosaic code really was. But it does something far more also, it underlines the reality of the fatherly care of God for all those who have been hardly used by life, those whom misfortune has buffeted, those who are 'the poor of the land', those who tend to be forgotten in the mad whirl of life, and have few to care for them, and fewer still to plead their cause. Is this a word for someone in need today?