ZELOPHEHAD

(Ze·loʹphe·had) [shadow (protection) from fear].

A descendant of Manasseh through Machir, Gilead and Hepher. (Num. 26:29-33) Zelophehad died during the forty-year wilderness wandering, not with “those who ranged themselves against Jehovah in the assembly of Korah, but for his own sin.” (Num. 27:3) He had no sons, but was survived by five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah, all of whom survived to enter the Promised Land.—Num. 27:1; 1 Chron. 7:15.

This special situation raised problems concerning the inheritance. When Zelophehad’s daughters requested their father’s share of the land in Manasseh, Moses brought their case before Jehovah. God’s judicial decision was that brotherless daughters should receive the family inheritance. (Num. 27:1-9; Josh. 17:3, 4) Later, it was stipulated that these daughters had to marry men of their father’s tribe so that the inheritance would remain within the tribe.—Num. 36:1-12.