Story · 22 · The Matriarch
Five daughters changed the law
Zelophehad's daughters had no brothers, so inheritance law left them nothing. They stood at the tabernacle and demanded a share. God ruled in their favor.
Protest can rewrite the rules for everyone.
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It's the only time in the Torah that God issues a law in response to community members, and they're all women. Their names match five real regions, some found in the Samaria Ostraca. Communities remembered their founders as women who reformed the law.
Bible reference: Numbers 27:1–11
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 355–357
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