Who was Zelophehad in the Bible?
Lived during the years in Egypt and the wilderness
Zelophehad was a man from the tribe of Manasseh during the time of Moses. He had five daughters - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - but no sons. Zelophehad appears in 8 verses across 3 books of the Bible.
What does the Bible say about Zelophehad?
Zelophehad was a man from the tribe of Manasseh during the time of Moses. He had five daughters - Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah - but no sons. After the census in the wilderness, Zelophehad's daughters came before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the congregation, asking for a possession among their father's brothers, since Zelophehad had died without a male heir. Moses brought their case before the Lord, who commanded that the daughters be given their father's inheritance. This ruling set a precedent for cases where a man died without a son. Later, when the Israelites were preparing to enter Canaan, the heads of the fathers' houses of Manasseh raised a concern that if Zelophehad's daughters married outside their tribe, their inheritance would be lost to the tribe. Moses then commanded that they could marry whom they thought best, but only within their father's tribal clan, to keep the inheritance within the tribe. Zelophehad's daughters did as the Lord commanded and married sons of their father's brothers. This event is significant in establishing the rights of inheritance for women in ancient Israel.
Definition text: STEPBible · Tyndale House Cambridge. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Lightly edited for length and formatting.
Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.
Where does Zelophehad appear in the Bible?
Zelophehad is referenced in 8 verses across 3 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.
- 1 Chronicles 7:15
- Joshua 17:3
- Numbers 26:33
- Numbers 27:1
- Numbers 27:7
- Numbers 36:2
- Numbers 36:6
- Numbers 36:10
What else appears in these passages?
These turn up in the same passages as Zelophehad.
Common questions
How many times does the Bible mention Zelophehad?
Zelophehad appears in 8 verses across 3 books, most often in Numbers, which accounts for 6 of them.
Which books of the Bible mention Zelophehad?
Numbers, 1 Chronicles, Joshua.
Where can I read every verse about Zelophehad?
This page lists 8 of them. Protos carries all 8, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.
