Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad …: The Hebrew verbal construction here indicates that there is a close connection between this account concerning the daughters of Zelophehad and the census account in the preceding chapter. Apparently then, Zelophehad’s daughters brought up their special inheritance case very soon after the close of the tribal census. The conjunction Then or a similar transitional expression (for example, “At that time” in Chewa) may be appropriate to indicate the connection between chapters 26 and 27. New Revised Standard Version and a number of other translations render the Hebrew verb for drew near as “came forward” (so also NET, New Jewish Publication Society Version, Herziene Statenvertaling, Luther, Levine). In many languages it will be more natural to introduce the daughters of Zelophehad (as the new topic) first and to specify their movement next. This is why New International Version moves the verb here to the end of this verse, rendering verses 1b-2a as “They approached 2 the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses” (similarly Good News Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nueva Biblia Viva). In this way the verb is also quite naturally connected with the location in verse 2. Such a rendering also takes into account that the Hebrew verb for drew near (qarab) is the same one used in 16.40 and means generally to approach the altar, the sanctuary, or any holy object for some formal cultic or a special religious. Good News Bible moves this verb to the beginning of verse 2, rendering it “went,” which is not very precise.

The son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: For this family line of Zelophehad, see the comments on 26.28-34. The Hebrew word for families (mishpachah) is better rendered “clans” (New Revised Standard Version; see 1.2). The phrase from the families of Manasseh may seem unnecessary after the successive generations, and this may be the reason why Good News Bible and the Vulgate omit it. However, this phrase highlights that the issue mentioned by Zelophehad’s daughters directly affects the tribe of Manasseh. A possible model for the first sentence of this verse that keeps this phrase is “Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad’s daughters belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph” (similarly New Century Version).

The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah: See 26.33.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .