6/20/2006

Zelophehad's daughters revisited

Numbers 36:11 - Zelophehad's daughters -- Mahlah, Tirzah, Heglah, Milcah, and Noah -- married their cousins on their father's side.

I wondered earlier if Zelophehad's daughters were the only ones with an inheritance problem. It seems from this second reference to them and to an extension of their problem that they really were the only family amongst the 2.5 million Israelites who had no brothers. Either that or other such families just didn't care about not getting and keeping an inheritance of land in Canaan.

I wonder if these women chose their cousin husbands or if the husbands chose them. Or did the parents make the arrangements (as was not uncommon in those days in that society)?

The name Noah was at this time apparently an acceptable name for a girl. The more famous Noah, who built the ark at the time of the Flood, was a boy. I wonder which other names were considered suitable for either gender. Today we have names like Chris, Pat, Kim, and Kelly that can be used either way. I wonder if Mahlah, Tirzah, Heglah, and Milcah could also be names for boys. Or would that have been as unheard of as calling a boy Karen or a girl Matthew?

No comments:

Post a Comment