Person Old Testament
Mahlah
Mahlah, a daughter of Zelophehad, received an inheritance among her brothers. Mentioned in 4 verses across 2 books, first at Numbers 26:33.
Why it matters. Daughter of Zelophehad, who received an inheritance among her brothers.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Mahlah
Mahlah was one of the five daughters of Zelophehad, a man from the tribe of Manasseh. Zelophehad had no sons, and according to the law, his inheritance would pass to his brothers. However, Mahlah and her sisters approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the entire congregation at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They argued that their father's name should not disappear from his clan because he had no sons and that they should receive an inheritance among their father's relatives. Moses brought their case before God, who agreed with the daughters and instructed Moses to give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives, setting a precedent for cases where a man died without sons. Mahlah and her sisters received an inheritance in the land of Canaan (Num.26.33; 27.1; 36.11; Jos.17.3).
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
- Zelophehad
Appears in Scripture
Named in 4 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.