Re-Reading Numbers 27:8 on the Protest of Zelophehad’s Daughters in Light of the Challenges of Inheritance in the Contemporary Patriarchal Society

Abstract

Ancient Israel was predominantly a patriarchal society where men are in total control of every aspect of the community, and they are regarded as the sole authority within the family, and in which power, inheritance or successions are transferred from the father to son. Women are almost totally relegated. The rights of women were very limited in the aspect of property distribution in ancient Israel, though they can get some token through diaries whenever they intend to marry. It was against this, the Zelophehad’s daughters had to protest, not against the law, but against the tendency to deny them their rights to their father’s estate. In an attempt to curb the excesses of patriarchalism as against justice in the distribution of patrimony, the paper explores the style used by the Zelophehad’s daughters in navigating the intricacy in a patriarchal community as ancient Israel and became victorious. The paper adopted historical and exegetical methods in its approach. The paper is of the view that there is always justice for women, girls and widows who decide to challenge any denial of inheritance to their deceased parents’ property or estate because equity will always aid the vigilant