Moses brought their case before the LORD: Since the request of Zelophehad’s daughters had no legal precedent, Moses looked to the LORD for direction (as in 9.8). The text does not specify how or where this happened, although it appears that it took place “at the door of the tent of meeting” (verse 2), where God would meet the leaders of his people for judgment (see 20.6). This verse begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And”), which introduces the consequence of the daughters’ request. Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible omit it, but it may be rendered “So” (New Living Translation, NET). Brought renders a different form of the Hebrew verb (qarab) translated “drew near” in verse 1. The Hebrew pronoun for their is feminine, referring to the daughters. In some languages translators may need to render their case as “the case of these women” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) to make it explicit that this pronoun does not refer to their father’s brothers in verse 4. Their case may be translated “their claim.” A few translations have “their request” (Bible en français courant, PV, CRV), but this rendering does not reflect the legal nature of the case here. As mentioned at 9.3 (see the comments there on “ordinances”), the Hebrew term for case (mishpat) refers to a legal decision, a judgment on a specific legal case that will have consequences for the community. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch provides a helpful model for this verse, saying “Moses asked the LORD for a decision.”

In one of the most important manuscripts of the Hebrew text, it appears that this short verse concludes the first paragraph of this chapter, rather than starts the second paragraph, as in most versions. The second paragraph would then begin with the LORD’s official word of judgment on this case. Furthermore, Good News Bible‘s decision to link verse 5 directly with verse 6 would be incorrect. The formulaic expression “And the LORD said to Moses” is used frequently in Numbers to begin a new paragraph (see verses 12, 18; also 26.52; 28.1).

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 .