Zelophehad, the great-grandson of Machir, had five daughters but had no sons. The account of the daughters’ encounter with Moses is given in Numbers 27.1-7. So, in accordance with the Lord’s decision, Joshua commanded that they be given land on the west side of the Jordan, together with the other male descendants of Manasseh. The total on the west side was ten shares: the five sisters received five shares, representing the one share belonging by rights to their grandfather Hepher (Zelophehad appears to have been the only son of Hepher; see Num 26.33); the other five shares went to the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, and Shemida (verse 2). (All six mentioned in verse 2 are said in Num 26.29-32 to be descended from Gilead, son of Machir.)

Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh may present problems to the reader. By the time the last name in the list is mentioned, the reader is likely to have forgotten the name of the person who did not have any sons. Since it is known from verse 1 that Gilead is the grandson of Manasseh through his father Machir, one may translate “Manasseh’s grandson Gilead had a son named Hepher. Hepher had a son named Zelophehad, who did not have any sons. But he did have five daughters, and their names were….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .