The established practice in Israel was that only males could inherit property. It is against this background that the daughters make their appeal for land.

Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he had no son?: The continued existence of a man’s family name was important to the Israelites. With this rhetorical question the daughters are implying that it could be preserved only in connection with the inheritance of his land by his descendants. Many languages will have an idiomatic equivalent here; for example, New Living Translation says “Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons?” and New Century Version has “Our father’s name will die out [from his clan] because he had no sons.” The Hebrew word for family (mishpachah) is better rendered “clan” again (see 1.2). Since the inheritance issue affects the clan and its property first and foremost, from his family should not be rendered “from Israel” (Good News Bible).

Give to us a possession among our father’s brethren: The Hebrew imperative verb rendered Give is singular, since the daughters are addressing Moses as the key person. In languages that have honorific forms of address and register, a polite verb form may be necessary here for naturalness (for example, a plural imperative in Chewa). Translators should avoid the impression that the daughters are making a demand here. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Samaritan Pentateuch have a plural verb, probably because verse 2 mentions that the daughters not only approach Moses, but also Eleazar, the chiefs, and the rest of the Israelites. The Hebrew word for possession (ʾachuzzah) refers to property, particularly in the form of land, which is held in possession. It is close in meaning to the Hebrew word nachalah, which is rendered “inheritance” in 16.14 (see the comments there). The Hebrew word for brethren can be interpreted more loosely as fellow members of the clan, so it may be rendered “relatives” (Good News Bible, NET) or “kinsmen” (New Jewish Publication Society Version). Contemporary English Version renders our father’s brethren as “the rest of his relatives in our clan,” which is a good model. However, it seems quite natural for Zelophehad’s daughters to refer to their “father’s brothers” (New Revised Standard Version, Herziene Statenvertaling; similarly Dutch Common Language Version with “uncles”) in this context of inheritance (see also the LORD’s ruling in verses 8-11).

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 .