This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: This clause introduces a direct quote of the LORD, which continues until the end of verse 9. Good News Translation changes this direct quote into indirect speech by beginning this verse with “and so the LORD says that the daughters of Zelophehad….” La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual is similar with “God told me that the daughters of Zelophehad….” The explicit mention again of the LORD’s “command” makes it clear that Moses is not giving an independent personal ruling here.

Let them marry whom they think best is literally “To the one who is good in their eyes let them become wives.” New Living Translation is more idiomatic with “Let them marry anyone they like.”

Only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father is literally “only to the clan of the tribe of their father shall they become wives.” The Hebrew word for family is mishpachah (see verse 1), so it is better rendered “clan” (New Revised Standard Version). The Hebrew puts emphasis on the phrase within the family of the tribe of their father by placing it at the beginning of the sentence. Translations differ on one ambiguity in the Hebrew phrase here. ESV says “within the clan of the tribe of their father” (similarly Revised Standard Version), which can be taken to mean that the husband should not just be a member of their father’s tribe but specifically of their father’s clan within that tribe. Reina-Valera revisida, Herziene Statenvertaling, Bijbel: Vertaling in opdracht van het Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap, and Buber follow the same interpretation, and so does Chewa with “with those [men] of the family of the clan of their parents.”

The alternative rendering, “into a clan of their father’s tribe” (New Revised Standard Version), only implies that the husband has to be a member of either their father’s clan or any other clan within their father’s tribe (so Noth, pages 257-258). Many translations follow this second interpretation (so Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, La Bible de Jérusalem Nouvelle, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel: Einheitsübersetzung der Heiligen Schrift, Zürcher Bibel, Luther, SPCL, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, Nije Fryske Bibeloersetting, Willibrordvertaling). Contemporary Russian Version follows it explicitly by saying “within one of the clans of their father’s tribe.” By implication, Good News Translation is based on the same interpretation by saying “within their own tribe” (also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bijbel in Gewone Taal). This interpretation is in agreement with the clause “They were married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh” (New Revised Standard Version) at the start of verse 12.

A few translations try to solve the problem by treating “clan” and “tribe” as almost synonyms; for example, New International Version has “within the tribal clan of their father.” This may be a way to solve the ambiguity. This interpretation is in agreement with the phrase “the tribe of their father’s clan” (New Revised Standard Version) at the end of verse 12.

In any case, we advise translators to treat this phrase in verse 6 and the phrase in verse 8 below (“one of the family of the tribe of her father”) consistently.

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 .