(1) The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. (2) They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said, (3) “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of the faction, Korah’s faction, which banded together against the LORD, but died for his own sin; and he has left no sons. (4) Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (5) Moses brought their case before the LORD. (6) And the LORD said to Moses, (7) “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them. (8) “Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: ‘If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter. (9) If he has no daughter, you shall assign his property to his brothers. (10) If he has no brothers, you shall assign his property to his father’s brothers. (11) If his father had no brothers, you shall assign his property to his nearest relative in his own clan, and he shall inherit it.’ This shall be the law of procedure for the Israelites, in accordance with the LORD’s command to Moses.”
The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was the tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.
(8) Every daughter among the Israelite tribes who inherits a share must marry someone from a clan of her father’s tribe, in order that every Israelite may keep his ancestral share. (9) Thus no inheritance shall pass over from one tribe to another, but the Israelite tribes shall remain bound each to its portion.” (10) The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses: (11) Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, were married to sons of their uncles,
https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/pinchas/finding-inspiration-jewish-women-who-came-us
Chapter 7: Telling an Inclusive History: Serah and Me
For those who haven’t met her, allow me to introduce Serah, who makes an appearance in this week’s Torah portion.
Serah slips in and out of the text. She’s a whiff of a biblical character who is mentioned twice in the Torah, and then passes out of sight.
She makes a first showing in the Book of Genesis as one of Jacob’s descendants who went down to Egypt (Gen. 46:17) and makes a comeback in Parashat Pinchas as one of the Israelites counted in the census taken before entering the Promised Land. The mention of her in this week’s portion reads simply, “The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.” (Num. 26:46) Based on Biblical chronology, Serah lived for roughly 450 years.
Because of her longevity, Serah crops up from time to time to fill in details about the past.