Numbers 27:1

Summary

The verse opens a narrative episode in which the daughters of Zelophehad approach (the leadership), identified through a five-generation patrilineal chain back to Joseph via the tribe of Manasseh. The verse closes by naming the five daughters explicitly: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Key words

• tik.Ravnah ("they drew near", H7126G) — qal verb, feminine plural, with narrative vav; opens the sentence and marks the daughters as the grammatical subject of the action before any names are given.
• be.Not ("[the] daughters of", H1323G) — feminine plural construct; links the subject directly to the genealogical chain that follows, deferring the personal names until later in the verse.
• ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct, repeated four times (Che.fer, gil.'Ad, ma.Khir, me.na.Sheh); each repetition adds one ascending generation, building an unbroken paternal line from Zelophehad to Manasseh.
• le.mishpe.Chot ("of the clans of", H9005+H4940) — preposition plus feminine plural construct; attaches the whole genealogical line to the clan structure of Manasseh, situating the daughters within a tribal-administrative framework rather than only a family one.
• 'E.leh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle introducing the naming clause ('elleh shemot benotav, "these are the names of his daughters"), which pauses the main narrative action to itemize the five individuals.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence begins with the finite verb tik.Ravnah ("they drew near"), immediately followed by its subject benot Tzelofchad ("daughters of Zelophehad"). Between the subject and the resumption of narrative action (which continues in the following verse), the text inserts an extended construct chain of ben ("son of") links — Hepher, Gilead, Makir, Manasseh — tracing Zelophehad's paternal line back through four generations to Manasseh son of Joseph. This chain is followed by a prepositional phrase, le.mishpe.Chot Menashsheh ben Yosef ("of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph"), which classifies the family within the larger clan structure of the tribe.

After the genealogy, a second clause is introduced with the conjunction ve and the demonstrative 'elleh: "and these are the names of his daughters" (shemot benotav, using the construct noun shemot, "names of"). This clause functions as an explanatory aside, naming Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah before the main narrative verb's action is carried forward. The feminine plural form of the initial verb tik.Ravnah signals from the outset that the group approaching is composed of women, even though their individual names are withheld until the genealogical identification is complete.

Differences between versions

The LXX and Vulgate render the proper names with different transliterations than the Masoretic vocalization: Tzelofchad becomes Salpaad/Salphaad, Chefer becomes Opher/Hepher, and the daughters' names appear as Mala, Noua, Hegla, Melcha, Thersa (LXX) and Maala, Noa, Hegla, Melcha, Thersa (Vulgate), diverging in spelling from the Hebrew Mach.Lah, No.'Ah, Chag.Lah, Mil.Kah, Tir.Tzah. The LXX renders le.mishpe.Chot Menashsheh ("of the clans of Manasseh") as τοῦ δήμου Μανασσή ("of the people/tribe of Manasseh"), using a singular collective noun where the Hebrew has a plural construct mishpechot ("clans").