Daughters of Zelophehad
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The Daughters of Zelophehad (Hebrew: בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד) were five sisters in the Hebrew Bible who lived during the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and who raised before Moses the case of a woman’s right and obligation to inherit property in the absence of a male heir in the family. Zelophehad (possibly meaning "first born"), a man of the Tribe of Manasseh, had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah; but no sons, and thus no male heirs. (Num. 26:33 27:3, Josh. 17:3.) Zelophehad died during the 40 years when the Israelites we wandering in the wilderness.(Num. 27:3.)
Zelophehad’s daughters petitioned Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for their right to inherit his property rights in the Land of Israel. (Num. 27:2–4.) In the Talmud, Rabbi Joshua interpreted that they petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftans, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but Abba Chanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer that Zelophehad’s daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together. (Bava Batra 119b.) The Zohar said that the Zelophehad’s daughters drew near to Moses before Eleazar and all the chieftains because they were afraid of Moses’ anger at Zelophehad and thought that it might be contained in a public forum. (Zohar 3:205b.)
Zelophehad’s daughters noted that their father Zelophehad had not taken part in Korah’s rebellion. (Num. 27:3.) The Talmud and the Zohar equated Zelophehad with the man executed for gathering sticks on the Sabbath (Shabbat 96b; Zohar 3:205b), but Sifri Zuta says that it cannot be known if he was. (Sifri Zuta on Num. 15:32.) Zelophehad’s daughters argued that were they not to inherit, then Zelophehad’s name would be lost to his clan. (Num. 27:4.) A Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were wise, Torah students, and righteous. (Bava Batra 119b.) And a Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies in the text. (Bava Batra 120a.) According to the Gemara, they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the law of levirate marriage, or yibbum, and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law. (Bava Batra 119b.)
Moses took their case to God. (Num. 27:5.) According to the Zohar, Moses presented the case to God instead of deciding it himself out of modesty. (Zohar 3:205b.) God told Moses that the plea of Zelophehad’s daughters was just, and that they should be granted their father’s hereditary holding. (Num. 27:6–7.)
Later, the family heads of the clan of Manasseh’s grandson Gilead appealed to Moses and the chieftains, arguing that if Zelophehad’s daughters married men from another Israelite tribe, then their share would be lost to the tribe of Manasseh and be added to the portion of the tribe into which they married. (Num. 36:1–3.) So Moses, at God’s bidding, instructed the Israelites that the plea of the tribal leaders was just and that Zelophehad’s daughters could marry anyone they wished, but only among the men of the tribe of Manasseh. (Num. 36:5–6.) Zelophehad’s daughters did as God had commanded Moses, and they each married sons of their uncles. (Num. 36:10–11.) According to the Gemara, the daughters demonstrated their righteousness by marrying men who were fitting for them. (Bava Batra 119b.)
When the Israelites entered the land, Zelophehad’s daughters appeared before Eleazer the priest, Joshua (who by then had assumed leadership from Moses), and the chieftains, reminding them that God had commanded Moses to grant them a portion among their kinsmen, and Zelophehad’s daughters received a portion in the holdings of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River. (Josh. 17:4–6.)
