What Does Numbers 36:2 Mean?
And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for a holding by lot to the children of Israel; and my lord was commanded by the hand of the LORD to give the holding of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters.THE KEY
The daughters do not receive a substitute for inheritance; they are named as its rightful heirs.
THE MEANING
A share can be designated and passed to the people entitled to receive it, even when its expected path must be reopened. Here, the daughters are included within Israel’s inheritance, and their father’s portion is directed to them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a father’s inheritance can only pass through sons: his daughters receive the inheritance itself.
THE ROOT
נַחֲלָה
naḥalah
GROWS FROM
נחל
n-ḥ-l
To inherit or take possession; in a causative form, to cause another to inherit.
“holding” in this verse is naḥalah. The noun נַחֲלָה (naḥalah, inheritance) grows from a root that holds both receiving a possession and causing someone to inherit it. The verse names the daughters as the people who receive their father’s share, keeping them inside the movement of inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
nāḥal: To inherit, take possession of, or receive as a share.
נָחַל
This receiving form illuminates the daughters as heirs who take possession of an allotted share.
hinḥîl: To cause someone to inherit; to allot as a possession.
הִנְחִיל
This causative form shows the same root can describe a share being placed into another person’s possession.
THE PATTERN
An inheritance reaches the people identified as heirs through a named allotment or promise.
The daughters of Zelophehad speak what stands firm. You shall surely give them a holding of inheritance among their father's brothers, and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass over to them.And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and co-heirs with the Anointed One; if indeed we suffer together with him, so that we may also be clothed in weight with him.And if you are of the Anointed One, then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.THE THREAD
The daughters of Zelophehad speak what stands firm. You shall surely give them a holding of inheritance among their father's brothers, and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass over to them.Both verses use נַחֲלָה (naḥalah, inheritance), joining the daughters’ claim to a defined share rather than a lesser substitute. Numbers 27:7 makes the transfer plain: their father’s inheritance passes to them among their father’s brothers.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us