Zelophehad

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This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

Zelophehad - or Tzelofchad , first-born, of the tribe of Manasseh, and of the family of Gilead; died in the wilderness. Having left no sons, his five daughters, Machlah, Noah, Chaglah, Milkah and Sirtzah, concerned lest their father's name should be "done away from among his family," made an appeal to Moses, who, by divine direction, appointed it as "a statute of judgment" in Israel that daughters should inherit their father's portion when no sons were left (Num. 27:1-11). But that the possession of Zelophehad might not pass away in the year of jubilee from the tribe to which he belonged, it was ordained by Moses that his daughters should not marry any one out of their father's tribe; and this afterwards became a general law (Numbers 36).

The Medrash suggests that Zelophehad was the infamous shabbos desecrator (Numbers 15:32). It is recorded there that, rather than being a sinner, he was merely trying to demonstrate to the nation how serious a transgression it is to desecrate the shabbos, and he sacrificed his life in order to publicize his subsequent death sentence by stoning.he:בנות צלפחד