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Numbers 36:11

in Numbers 36

Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons.

KJV

For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons:

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This verse in Numbers 36

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah,.... The names of the daughters of Zelophehad, and the same as in Num 26:33, only the order a little varied, Tirzah and Noah here changing places; there they are according to their birth, here they are according to their marriage, as Aben Ezra thinks; though Jarchi is of opinion, that being thus differently placed shows that they were equal to one another, and one was not preferred to the other: these were married unto their father's brothers' sons; so that they were first cousins.

This site's exposition

did as the LORD had commanded Moses

on Numbers 36:10-12

The sisters are named a third time, with Tirzah and Noah trading places from 26:33 and 27:1. Gill reports Aben Ezra taking this as the order of their marriages and Jarchi as a sign that none was preferred.

This site's exposition

Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah

Their husbands were sons of their father's brothers, first cousins, as John Gill puts it. That kept the land inside the family of Hepher, closer than the clan that verse 6 required. The five names match 26:33 in a new order.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The world is wide, and he that walks uprightly will endeavour to walk surely. The conclusion of this whole book, referring to the latter part of it: These are the judgments which the Lord commanded in the plains of Moab (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Here was an instance of progressive legislation (see also Ex 18:27) in Israel, the enactments made being suggested by circumstances. But it is deserving of special notice that those additions to, or modifications of, the law were confined to civil affairs; while the slightest change was inadmissible in the laws relating to worship or the maintenance of religion.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Mahlah, Tirza, etc. - For a curious account of these names, see the notes on Num 27:7.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Exactly as Adonoy commanded Moshe, so did Tzelofchad’s daughters.
Targum · Onkelos Numbers 36:10, via Sefaria, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתִּהְיֶ֜ינָהand they belonged

    vatihyeinahH1961 →3559 times

  • מַחְלָ֣הMahlah

    machlahH4244 →5 times

  • תִרְצָ֗הTirzah

    tirtzahH8656 →18 times

  • וְחָגְלָ֧הand Hoglah

    vechagelahH2295 →4 times

  • וּמִלְכָּ֛הand Milcah

    umilkahH4435 →11 times

  • וְנֹעָ֖הand Noah

    venoahH5270 →4 times

  • בְּנ֣וֹת[the] daughters of

    benotH1323 →588 times

  • צְלָפְחָ֑דZelophehad

    tzelafechadH6765 →11 times

  • לִבְנֵ֥יto [the] sons of

    livneiH1121 →4930 times

  • דֹדֵיהֶ֖ןuncles their

    dodeihenH1730 →

  • לְנָשִֽׁים׃to wives

    lenashimH802 →781 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

7 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Numbers 27:1

    Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 26:33

      Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

    • Galatians 3:28

      There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

    • Numbers 36:1–12

      Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families…

    • 1 Chronicles 7:15

      Machir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. The name of his sister was Maacah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

    • Joshua 17:3–6

      But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah,…

  • Through

    Numbers 26:33

    Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 27:1

      Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of…

    • Numbers 36:10–12

      So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 36 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 36 →