MembersThe Daughters of Zelophehad

In Numbers 27, we meet the daughters of Zelophehad, five daughters and all are mentioned by name – Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. You have to agree with me that five women being mentioned in a single breath in the Bible is quite rare.

There are many women whose names are never mentioned in the Bible, for instance the wife of Lot, the daughter of Pharaoh, the daughter of Jephthah, and more. But here in this passage we have an exception. In fact, the names of the daughters of Zelophehad are mentioned, in full, twice, in chapters 26 and 27.

Their simple, but important story is as follows. Moses distributes inheritances (land) to the children of Israel, all of whom are males. But Zelophehad had died and had...