“The Daughters of Zeloph’ehad”     Num. 27:1

“Then came the daughters of Zeloph’ehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh… the son of Joseph; and the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.” Num. 27:1

It almost sounds like ‘Fiddler on the roof’ with Tevye the milk man who had five daughters and no sons. That was Zeloph’ehad, who had five daughters and no sons to pass on his inheritance too, no son to carry on the family name, no son to care for his wife and daughters. Sons were very important in the Hebrew lineage and families, it was a sign of God’s blessing. So, what are the daughters to do? Mahlah means disease, so she was probably very sickly, Noah meant motion, quiver, shake, so I get the idea that the lot fell on the next oldest to be the spokes person and she was very nervous, wouldn’t you be? Hoglah meant partridge, probably flighty, Milcah meant queen, the prima-donna and Tirzah meant favorable, probably she was beautiful and knew it. So, the lot for speaking out fell on the second born, Noah the trembling one and why was she quivering and shaking? Oh, she is going to have to bring their cause before Moses, Eleazer the ‘High Priest,’ the princes of Israel and the ‘Shekinah Glory’ of YeHoVaH in front of the congregation, that’s all! Wouldn’t you be a little nervous and quivering and shaking? And probably losing your morning bowl of manna as well!

So, they are all standing before the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, all five sisters together. Now they didn’t all talk though I believe they all stood there, only one talked and I believe it was the second in the birth order, Noah because she is trembling. In Gen. 5:29 ‘Noakh’ which means ‘rest’ is sent to rescue mankind on the earth from God’s catastrophic flood and here ‘Noah’ quivering, is chosen to rescue the family of Zeloph’ehad from extinction. In Hebrew the letters “ah” on the end of a word are a feminine ending changing a word like ‘Sar’ which means ‘Prince’ Isa. 9:6, to ‘Princess or Noble Woman’ by adding the “ah” making it ‘Sarah’ Gen. 17:15. Each one of the five daughters of Zeloph-echad has an ‘ah’ on the end of their name. The name Zeloph-‘ehad is made up of two words, ‘Zeloph’ is from an unused root and the closest word to it (tsalah) means beam, plank, timber etc. and of course (echad) means ‘one’ or a compound unity of one! So, these five daughters of Zeloph-echad were one, inseparable, like an ‘I-Beam’ they were united in their cause, they put up a strong united argument, they were in total agreement, and they were the “Daughters of Zeloph-echad!” They said our father died in the wilderness and he was over 20 probably as well as their mother and none of them were married as of yet. Also their father was not in the company of those that rebelled against the LORD with Korah but he died in his own sin, Num. 26:64-65, not that sin, and he had no sons, just five daughters.

Now here comes their plea to Moses, Eleazer and the Princes, “Why should the name of our father be done away from his family because he had no son? Give unto us therefore a possession/property among the brethren of our father.” Num. 27:4. Pretty bold request wouldn’t you say, seeing the inheritance only went to the males. But without a change families in the tribes would become extinct. The key to this and to every problem is in Num. 27:5, “And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.” So, Moses brought, (ka-rav) he approached, he drew near, he entered into the ‘Holy of Holies,’ before the “Presence of the LORD.” WOW! The word before in v.5 is (paniym) for face, presence, in front of, or face to face! He took their cause, their (mish-pat) their judgment, their litigation, their case, before the ‘face of God.’ We too have that privilege to enter into the ‘Holy of Holies’ by the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:19-22) but do we? DO WE? Do we take our causes, our (mish-pats)before the LORD? We have the ministry and the privilege of interceding for one another, standing in the gap, making up the hedge, repairing the breech, being a ‘Tikun O’lam’ but are we? Moses immediately took their cause to the LORD. There are only three individuals with the ministry of intercession, ‘The Son,’ Rom. 8:34; ‘The Spirit,’ Rom. 8:26; and ‘The Saint,’ I Tim. 2:1; and when you enter into that ministry you are in total unity with the Tri-Unity of the God-Head and only at that time. You pray to the Father, through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, in fact when you say, “God” three persons say, What?

Immediately in v.6 the LORD spoke to Moses; the word spoke is the Hebrew word (amar) to say, speak, utter, audibly or in one’s heart or mind. However, I think Moses and YeHoVaH had an intimate audible relationship going on. Then God answers the daughters of Zeloph’ehad and sets up a new rule for inheritance. If a man dies and has no sons only daughters, she or they shall get an inheritance, and so on and so forth, so the inheritance stays in the family or tribe. Then the last chapter of the book of Numbers, chapter 36 is dedicated to inheritance and Moses uses the five daughters of Zeloph’ehad as an example. In Num. 36:6 they had to marry in the tribe of their father so the land would stay with Manasseh and not move from tribe to tribe, v.7. Not only did the Jewish people have to marry Jewish people at this time, but tribes had to marry within their own tribe to keep their inheritance within their tribe, so one tribe’s inheritance would not be transferred to another tribe. V.9. If it did, in the year of ‘Jubilee’ v.4, it was transferred back, to the original tribe, Lev. 25:10; WOW! Did we get that messed up in 2015, Amen?

Then in Num. 36:11 the daughters of Zeloph’ehad are listed in reverse, Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah last and they were all married but not until the question of their inheritance, or their “Cause” was brought before the LORD, and probably on the banks of the Jordan River. They married their father’s, brother’s son’s or their cousins with Noah, I think holding out till last. The order listed in v.11 is probably the order of their marriages since that is the context. Interesting, they stayed on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River with Reuben and Gad, they were considered the ‘Half Tribe of Manasseh.’ They actually inherited the land between Gilead and Bashan, Josh. 17:3-6, ten portions, and they are always referred to as the ‘Half Tribe’ the other ‘Half Tribe’ is Ephraim, Joseph’s other son. So there is a lot going on with these ‘Five Daughters’ who stuck together like super-glue, and were united like an I-Beam before God. However, here is our ‘Principle For Prayer’ just like Noah the quivering one who took their problem before Moses, who took their cause before the LORD, we need to handle our problems just like that whether in the church, home, work place, on the street, or wherever! Amen? If you have a problem, or a situation, go to your pastor or spiritual leader in your congregation and let them take your “Cause” before the face (paniym) of the LORD, if you feel you can’t handle it yourself. Sometimes it’s bigger than the both of us, right Noah? Don’t share it or blab it on face-book or the internet or prayer meeting until you or your spiritual leaders have had a chance to take it before the LORD’s (paniym) face. Amen? That was a little weak but I’ll take it! Till next time, I’ll see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“The Daughters of Zeloph’ehad” Num. 27:1 – 10/13/16