Editing Daughters of Zelophehad (section)

==Rabbinical commentary==
[[File:Foster Bible Pictures 0082-1 The Daughters of Zelophehad.jpg|200px|thumb|The Daughters of Zelophehad (illustration from the 1897 ''Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us'' by Charles Foster)]]
In the [[Talmud]] and the ''[[Zohar]]'' the reference to Zelophehad having "died in his own sin" is used to equate him with the man executed for gathering sticks on [[Shabbat]],<ref>Shabbat 96b</ref><ref name="Zohar 3:205b" /> but ''[[Sifri Zutta]]'' says that it cannot be known if he was.<ref>Sifri Zuta on {{Bibleverse||Numbers|15:32.|HE}}</ref>

In the Talmud, [[Rabbi Josiah]] interpreted that they petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftains, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but [[Abba Hanan]] said in the name of [[Eliezer ben Hurcanus]] of [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judaea]] that Zelophehad's daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together.<ref name="Bava Batra 119b">{{cite web |title=Bava Batra 119b:8 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.119b.8?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>

The ''Zohar'' said that Zelophehad's daughters drew near to Moses in the presence of Eleazar and all the chieftains because they were afraid of Moses' anger at Zelophehad and thought that it might be contained in a public forum.<ref name="Zohar 3:205b">{{cite web |title=Zohar, Vayakhel 15:206-17:218 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Zohar%2C_Vayakhel.15.206-17.218?lang=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> According to the ''Zohar'', Moses presented the case to God instead of deciding it himself out of modesty.<ref name="Zohar 3:205b" />

A [[baraita]] taught that Zelophehad's daughters were [[wisdom|wise]], [[Torah]] [[student]]s, and [[righteousness|righteous]].<ref name="Bava Batra 119b" /> Another baraita taught that Zelophehad's daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies in the text.<ref name="Bava Batra 120a" /> According to the [[Gemara]], they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the [[law]] of [[levirate marriage]], or ''[[yibbum]]'', and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law.<ref name="Bava Batra 119b" /> The daughters also demonstrated their righteousness by marrying men who were fitting for them.<ref name="Bava Batra 119b" />