Single lesson
Zelophehad's Daughters and the Marriage Ruling
Numbers 36:1–13
In this passage, family leaders raise a concern about inheritance, Moses gives Yahweh’s command, and Zelophehad’s daughters obey. Children can trace the order of the account and see what it teaches about Yahweh’s ruling and people’s response.
Before you teach
Numbers 36:1–13 records the heads of the families from Gilead coming to Moses and the leaders of Israel. They speak about the inheritance already given to Zelophehad’s daughters and ask what will happen if they marry into another tribe. Moses answers according to Yahweh’s word, and the daughters act on that command.
Students will be able to retell the sequence in Numbers 36:1–13, name the concern and the command, and explain that Yahweh gives the ruling through Moses while the family leaders raise the issue and the daughters obey it.
Welcome: What problem is raised?
5 minBegin by telling children they will hear this account with a question, a command, and an outcome. Read verses 1 to 4 aloud. Help them notice who speaks: heads of families from Gilead come before Moses and the leaders. Their concern is that if Zelophehad’s daughters marry into another tribe, the inheritance will move away from their tribe.
Numbers 36:1, Numbers 36:2, Numbers 36:3, Numbers 36:4
Read and explain: What does Moses say from Yahweh?
7 minRead verses 5 to 9. Point out that Moses speaks according to Yahweh’s word and says the tribe of Joseph is right. Explain the command simply: the daughters may marry whom they think best, but within the family of their father’s tribe. This shows that Yahweh gives the ruling, and the stated purpose is to keep inheritance from moving from tribe to tribe.
Numbers 36:5, Numbers 36:6, Numbers 36:7, Numbers 36:8, Numbers 36:9
Discuss: What does this teach about God and people?
6 minTalk about what the passage shows. About God, Yahweh gives the command and Moses passes it on. About people, the family leaders bring their concern, and the daughters later do what was commanded. Ask children to identify both the people’s actions and Yahweh’s authority from the words of the passage.
Numbers 36:5, Numbers 36:6, Numbers 36:10, Numbers 36:13
Make and respond: Sequence the account
8 minUse simple sequence cards for the class to arrange: family leaders speak, Moses gives Yahweh’s command, the daughters obey, the inheritance remains. After ordering the cards, ask children to match each step with a verse. Emphasise that verse 10 says the daughters did as Yahweh commanded Moses, showing a human response to God’s command.
Numbers 36:1, Numbers 36:5, Numbers 36:10, Numbers 36:12
Closing: The ending of the passage
4 minRead verses 10 to 13 again. Name the daughters: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah. Show the outcome clearly: they married within the families of Manasseh, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe. Finish by noting that these commandments and ordinances were commanded by Yahweh through Moses to Israel.
Numbers 36:10, Numbers 36:11, Numbers 36:12, Numbers 36:13
Questions to explore
What worry did the family leaders bring to Moses?
Look for what they say would happen to the inheritance if the daughters married men from other tribes.
Numbers 36:3, Numbers 36:4
What two parts do you hear in Yahweh’s command about marriage?
Listen for both the freedom in choosing a husband and the boundary about staying within their father’s tribe.
Numbers 36:6
What does this passage show about Yahweh and about the daughters?
Notice who gives the command through Moses, and notice what the daughters do in response.
Numbers 36:5, Numbers 36:6, Numbers 36:10, Numbers 36:13
Make, think or respond
Inheritance Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or markers
- Bible
- scissors
- tape or Blu Tack
Try it together
- Write four short cards: 'Leaders bring a concern', 'Moses gives Yahweh’s command', 'The daughters obey', 'The inheritance remains in their tribe'.
- Read Numbers 36:1–13 together and let children place the cards in order.
- Add verse numbers to each card as a class and tape them onto a wall or table in sequence.
- Invite children to draw one part of the account under a card and explain why it belongs there.
This activity helps children follow the order of Numbers 36:1–13 and connect the concern, Yahweh’s command through Moses, and the outcome in the passage.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare the four sequence cards in advance with simple pictures and let them match cards to verses read aloud.
- For older children, ask them to find the purpose words in the passage about inheritance staying within the tribe and explain the rule in their own words from the text.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: 'God, thank you for your word. Please help us listen carefully, understand what we read, and learn to obey you faithfully.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Numbers 36
1 The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel.
2 They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
3 If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right.
6 This is the thing which Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father.
7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers.
9 So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’ ”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses:
11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons.
12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.