The Five Daughters of Zelophehad

In two of her novels, "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", Jane Austen writes about the angst of women who were not permitted to inherit, and therefore, not to continue to live in the same home, upon the death of either husbands or fathers. If there were no brothers or sons in the families, the properties must be entailed to some close or distant male kin.

Entailing property was a historical fact in Austen's time, during the Regency Era between 1811 and 1820.

A similar fate almost happened to five women in the Old Testament. In the tribe of Manasseh, the great-grandson of Joseph (that Joseph who was sold into slavery in Egypt), Zelophehad, died in the wilderness and survived by five daughters. Accordingly, there being no males in the family, there could be no land alloted to these women once the trans-Jordan crossing into and possession of Canaan occurred.

This incident was not so minor, however, for the five daughters of Zelophehad were mentioned nine times in the Old Testament (Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1; Numbers 27:7; Numbers 36:2; Numbers 36:6; Numbers 36:10; Numbers 36:11, Joshua 17:6; and 1 Chronicles 7:15). God instructed that these woman were to be given their portion of the land in Canaan, with the proviso they marry men from the same tribe. Thus the inheritance was complete for all rightful heirs of the tribe of Manasseh.

Surely, a modern scholar or two might pontificate on the Jewish state, history, land, intrigues, wars, and so forth. In some circles, the five daughters of Zelophehad would be fodder for gender politics. Lest we forget, Canaan was a land promised and gift of God from the time He called Abraham in Ur of Chaldees (Genesis 12:1).

All biblical statements (i.e. the Bible) are of God. There is a spiritual and theological thread binding the Old and the New Testaments. When God made provisions for the daughters to inherit land in Canaan, He was and is saying, His own children, male and female alike, are all recipients of the promise - in Canaan, and in Christ kingdom to come. As we read in Ephesians 1:13-14 of the New Testament:

13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (NASB)

There is no entailing of God's inheritance. He has prepared a place for us (John 14:2). The deed is guaranteed for eternity.