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Person Old Testament

Hepher

Also known as Hepherite

Hepher was a son of Gilead and ancestor of the Hepherite clan in the tribe of Manasseh. Mentioned in 5 verses across 2 books, first at Numbers 26:32.

Why it matters. Son of Gilead, ancestor of the Hepherites.

Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

About Hepher

Hepher was a son of Gilead, who was a descendant of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. He is mentioned in the genealogies of the tribe of Manasseh in Numbers and Joshua (Num.26.32; Jos.17.2). Hepher's descendants were known as the Hepherites, one of the clans within the tribe of Manasseh (Num.26.32). The daughters of Zelophehad, who were descendants of Hepher, played a significant role in establishing inheritance rights for women in the absence of male heirs (Num.27.1; Jos.17.3). They brought their case before Moses and the leaders, and God instructed that they should receive an inheritance among their father's relatives. This event set a precedent for inheritance laws in Israel. (Num.26.32,33; 27.1; Jos.17.2,3).

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.

Connections

No reviewed connections yet.

Family

Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.

Parents
Gilead
Children
Zelophehad

Appears in Scripture

Named in 5 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Record type: Person. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.